


Outrunning Karma

by gaminggirl2018



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Minor Character Death, Nuka-World Amusement Park (Fallout), Rough Sex, Sex, Shooting, The Institute (Fallout), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:35:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21789148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaminggirl2018/pseuds/gaminggirl2018
Summary: "Overboss?" Darby scoffed the title, glaring over at the dirty raider known as Gage.The man chuckled darkly as he turned to look out the window "don't like it anymore than you, sweetheart."Looking down at the colonial duster, given to her by the Minutemen General Preston Garvey, Darby let her eyes soften as she remembered her purpose for coming."Lets get one thing straight-" Throwing the coat on, Darby turned to face him and snarled "-I don't like anything about this shit show. The only reason I'm not leaving, is because these settlers need someone who'll save them." Darby looked down at her prosthetic arm and tightened the fingers into her palm "and if it's not going to be you, then it has to be me.""So long as you don't fuck things over further, and keep the target on your back, we'll get along just fine" Gage snarled, lighting a cigaret.Snatching the stick from his fingers, Darby stood close enough to feel his breath "getting along isn't an option, thankfully tolerance is."
Relationships: Porter Gage & Sole Survivor, Porter Gage/Female Sole Survivor, Porter Gage/Original Character(s), Porter Gage/Original Female Character(s), Porter Gage/Sole Survivor
Kudos: 9





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try and post something everyday. 
> 
> Eventual smut, just stick with me please, I've never written the stuff before.

“You are not going alone!”

“Well someone has to go, and we don’t have enough people to sacrifice!”

“Then we wait until more help arrives-”

“Help isn’t coming!” Darby screamed, slamming both of her hands onto the makeshift planning table. “Face facts Preston, we are the help!”

Preston wasn’t use to the kindhearted woman's anger, but he’d noticed how much the subject had been bothering her. Placing his hand over her cold fingers, Preston softened his gaze.

Darby’s quantum blue eyes locked onto the man's hand, a hand that she couldn’t feel. While she appreciated his attempt at comfort, it was only amplifying her anger and further reminded her why this trip was necessary. 

“Darby I get why you’re taking this personally-” intertwining his fingers with her metal ones, Preston continued “-but rushing into an amusement park filled with ruthless killers, is just going to get everyone killed.” 

Shaking her head with angry irritation, Darby pulled her hand away. “I’m not asking you to send everyone.” Taking a deep breath, Darby looked down at her prosthetic arm and tried to calm down. “Just send me, please Preston…”

“As your good friend… And general, I’m denying your request.”

All settlers turned to look at Darby Grease, who slammed the door so hard Sturges almost fell off his ladder. 

Without even a glance at the mechanic, which was very unusual for the cheerful woman her, Darby angrily stormed towards her makeshift shelter. 

Reaching the bunker, hidden behind one of the houses in Sanctuary, Darby’s hand instinctively rested on her holstered pistol when she noticed a woman. 

The short blonde hair was roughed up, bruises littered the woman's pale skin, and grey eyes held dark bags beneath them, but this woman was an escaped slave known as Dixie.

Recognizing her, Darby relaxed her shoulders and took her hand away from the pistol.

“Dixie, what are you doing here?” Darby fidgeted with the gloves that covered her hands. “Shouldn't you still be at the medic bay?”

Dixie brightly smiled as she took both of Darby’s hands into her own. 

“I came to say how grateful I am that your willing to help free the slaves still trapped at Nuka-World!” Dixie noticed the quantum blue eyes widen, and allowed a nervous pout to tug at her lips. “Preston did say you could help, right?”

Darby allowed her expression to remain blank as her veins burned with anger. Gently squeezing the girls hand, Darby gave a single firm nod. 

“Yea, I’m going to help free the slaves at Nuka-World… Just let me get my bag and say goodbye to Mama Murphy.”

Though Preston had said no, time and time again, Darby couldn’t sit idle anymore. Tonight she’d make her way to Nuka-World.


	2. Chapter 1

Had Darby paid attention to the sickening smile Dixie had procured, perhaps she’d have realized the trap she was falling into, but she didn’t and now… 

Now the settlement Sanctuary, and Dixie, were far behind her. 

Standing on the Nuka-Express, Darby took the peaceful opportunity to check her laser musket for any damages or clogs, that was when the speaker exploded into an annoying static. 

“Listen up! I’ve only got a minute-” an accented male snarled, breaking the static “-you better listen and listen good.”

Darby looked towards the speaker in the ceiling and narrowed her eyes, she wasn’t one to judge people by accents or appearances, but his voice screamed raider… Though she supposed that’s why she’d come.

“Names Gage, Porter Gage. And your friend Dixie sent you head first into a death trap.”

“Well… shit” Darby grumbled. Preston had tried to warn her that something was wrong, but she didn’t listen, and now she had to live with the consequences. 

“If you somehow make it through alive-” Gage chuckled lightly as he seemed to speak in a more hushed tone “-I have an interesting offer for you. In the meantime, have fun, and put on a good show. I’ll be watching.”

Gripping the rifle until her gloves threatened to break, Darby allowed her breathing to grow rugged as she left the express with its speaker smoking. 

“Attention all my favorite undesirables out there. In case you haven’t noticed, looks like we’ve got some fresh meat to run the Gauntlet! How much we betting this bitch doesn't even make it-” Darby shot the next speaker in sight, cutting off whatever the annoying announcer was about to say. 

She continued to leave piles of smoking speakers and cameras throughout the Gauntlet, finding herself getting angrier and angrier at herself and the damn raiders. 

Standing before a window, which revealed the leader of this shitshow getting suited into power armor, Darby gripping her rifle until the metal threatened to bend beneath her fingers. Noticing the intercom by the door, Darby rolled her eyes and slammed her metal finger onto the button. 

The last thing she wanted was to talk, but she never wanted to be trapped in the first place.

“Got me wired up yet, Gage? I ain’t standing in this thing to look fucking pretty” Colter snarled, giving Darby a clue into the gang leader’s relationship with his second in command.

Gage seemed to hesitate a moment before giving a single firm nod. He pulled his hands off the man's power armor and glanced at Darby, but she paid him little mind.

“Finally” Colter groaned. “Now go shut off that damn alarm, fucking things giving me a headache.”

Another single nod was given by Gage, who proceeded to hastily walk out of the arena “alright Overboss, I’m on it.”

“Hey shitheads” Darby snarled through the intercom, getting annoyed with just holding the button and waiting for acknowledgement. She narrowed her eyes at Colter as he finally turned to address her “you wanna unlock the door? Or are you scared I’m going to fuck up your nice armor?”

Colter let out a deep chuckle as he walked closer towards the window Darby stood behind. “So there’s my next victim.” Colter began to look Darby up and down, making her rather uncomfortable “you don’t look like much, dressed just like the tomato settler I killed earlier today.”

Darby felt her anger rising as she snapped back “well you ain’t exactly a sight yourself, especially in that tincan.”

“Here's a quick rundown of how this is going to work… You go stock up, make yourself nice and presentable-” Colter ignored her fake yawn as he continued his little speech “-and then we give these folks a show. A show where I decorate these walls here with your lovely-”

Darby turned to the intercom and took a single step back before shooting it. Glancing at Colter through the window, she shouted “what?! I can’t hear you over all that clanking.” Hearing the door click, Darby gave Colter the bird before heading inside the next room. 

Closing the door behind her, Darby leaned her back against the metal and began to try and clearly thick, without any distractions. 

The only way she was going to survive this fight was if she had a clear head, and ever since the lying raider known as Dixie showed up at Sanctuary, Darby had been running off of pure revenge. 

Of course, as Darby began to finally manage some of her own thoughts, a voice broke through the silence.

“Alright, listen up, if you want to make this out alive” Gage suddenly interrupted form an intercom inside the room. 

Darby groaned with growing annoyance. 

“I’ve only got a minute so hurry up and find the intercom on the wall.”

Pushing off the door and sluggishly shuffling towards the intercom, Darby tried to remain calm before she pressed the button. “This is Porter Gage, right?”

The man allowed a quick chuckle to come through “just Gage… Glad even when faced with life and death you got a good memory, it’ll come in handy… If you make it out alive. Look, this fight coming up is rigged. You get me?”

A scoff escaped Darby’s lips as she rolled her eyes “wouldn’t expect anything less from fucking raiders. You guys have any rules? Unknown bedtimes? Secret exits to this hellscape? Anything like that?”

Gage lightly chuckled “nothin like that. But I do have a tip if ya wanna shut yer yap and listen up… Overboss Colter’s power armor is set up to draw electricity from the arena’s grid. Damn things invincible. You name it someones tried it-”

“This is a great pep talk Gage, you gonna start preaching about what awaits those who die next or-”

“Just shut up and listen” Gage ordered with a harsh tone that had Darby snapping her mouth shut. “I stashed a weapon in the lockers. Get it, then we’ll talk again.”

“Perhaps you didn’t notice when you were stashing it… but there's a lot of weapons in this locker room” Darby informed, strapping her rifle onto her back and crossing her arms. “Wanna give me a better clue as to what I’m looking for?”

“Would you just try and use your fucking eyes, you’ll know it when you see it!”

Except that she didn’t, Darby was stumbling around the locker room, picking up every possible weapon and wondering if it was the one. Thankfully, she stumbled across a fusion core generator and immediately went to work. 

Ripping the power core out of it’s charging station, Darby pulled a dirty water canteen from her backpack and poured it into the open area. If the generator was powering any part of the arena, she could use the shortage to her advantage.

Watching the lights flicker, Darby sighed when she heard no clicking doors of freedom.

“Power to the arena is down by thirty percent” Gage informed, seemingly forgetting all about his anger moments ago. “You do that?”

Rolling her eyes, Darby shuffled back to the intercom “it’s a fusion core generator, not rocket science. Though perhaps in raiders eyes, it looks that way.”

Silence was her only response for a minute before Gage grumbled “wonder if dying by Colter’s hands would be better than working with you?”

Darby darkly chuckled “oh Gage, there are far worse things than dying.” Returning back to her search, Darby noticed the red pistol laying at the bottom of the broken locker. “You’re shitting me!”

Briskly walking back towards the intercom, Darby wondered if she broke the button she’d pressed it so hard.

“Is this some kind of sick fucking joke? What makes you think a squirt gun is…” Darby’s eyes widened as she recalled what she’d literally just done to the generator. “Oh Gage you fucking genious!” 

Gage lightly chuckled “ya know, praise sounds real good from your lips.”

Darby smirked “yeah well, even if I survive this, don’t get used to it… So you think once the water hits Colters power armor, the circuits are going to fry… But aren’t they just going to recharge?”

“Looks like you’ll just have to be quick. But if you take him out, I promise it’ll be worth every minute spent in the Gauntlet…” 

“Well -” Darby let a long sigh escape her lips “-staying hydrated is half the battle”

“He ain’t got a choice… All right, it’s time. I’ll open the door… See you on the other side.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darby fights the Overboss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I had finals yesterday and was so stressed I got sick. Anyway now it's winter break, yay.

Adjusting the militia hat, so it sat firmly on her head, Darby pretended to be unfazed by Colter as he rallied up the large crowd of raiders. But on the inside, her heart raced, head pounded and the one real hand felt sweaty in it’s glove.

“And you-” Colter finally turned towards Darby and chuckled darkly, perhaps seeing the fear in her quantum blue eyes, “-are you ready to die?”

Tightening her grip on the blaster, Darby watched as the only thing separating her from the crazy raider leader, swung open. 

The second Colter reached for his gun Darby pulled up hers, and the fight began. 

Blasting his suit with the water, Darby quickly switched weapons, pulling the strap of her laser musket until it flipped off her back and into her hands. 

“Gage! When I get my hands on you, you're dead!” Colter yelled, apparently realizing his second in command had thrown him to the wolves.

Bullets whizzed past her, one even catching her malita hat, but she fired one shot at his gun and forced the weapon to jam. Taking a deep breath, Darby shot two more bullets into each of his legs, forcing the armor to lock up.

Knowing she only had a second to get to work, Darby threw her musket over her shoulder and rushed behind him. Though his suit would turn back on any second, she used her prosthetic hand and dug her fingers beneath the cover for the fusion core and ripped the metal sheet off his power armor.

Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Darby used the metal sheet to block the incoming punch. Looking up at Colter, her eyes widened to see he was now fully facing her and reaching to grab ahold of her. 

Moving the metal plate in his way, Darby slid over the bumper-cart’s hood and used it to slow down Colter, who was unable to jump do to her well placed shots in the knees. 

Throwing her bag off her shoulders, she practically ripped the bag open, searching for a stealth boy. 

Hearing Colter thumping around the cover, Darby held her breath as she managed to fully vanish. 

Slowly releasing the bag, since it wasn’t covered by the stealth boy, Darby kept very still as Colter appeared around the bumper-cart and began to walk past her. 

“Where’d that bitch go?” Colter mumbled, unaware that she could hear. 

Waiting until she was a good distance behind him, Darby slowly pulled the grenade from her backpack and managed to stand from her crouching position.

Colter scanned his surroundings and began to turn, grumbling about his slow movements, but Darby jumped into action.

Digging her metal fingers into his exposed fusion core, Darby used all her strength to forcefully rip it out. It forced Colter to rely on manual strength, but just as she went to insert the grenade, the electricity flowed to his armor again and she had no time to spray him with water again.

Darby whispered a small ‘sorry Preston’, before squeezing her eyes shot and shoving the grenade into the fusion core slot. 

“Holy shit!-” Redeye screamed into the microphone, causing Darby to wince at the sudden noises racing into her ears. “-I cannot believe what I’m seeing! The bitch ain’t dead!”

“Certainly feels like it” Darby grumbled, squeezing her eyes shut even tighter and rotating her head away from the bright lights. Knowing she was just vulnerable to another attack, Darby allowed her eyes to flutter open and began to push herself up, though she wasn’t sure when she started sitting.

“You saw it, we all saw it” Gage stated, speaking over the uncertainty filled crowd of raiders. “This chick beat Colter, that means she’s the new Overboss, plain and simple.”

“This chick? Are you sure, Gage?” A male voice snarled, making Darby wish her laser musket didn’t feel broken against her back.

“You better know what the hell you're doing” a female added.

Blurry spots blocked most of the room, but Darby knew faking intimidation could be the difference between life and death. When her feet were flat against the ground, she began walking around the dead raider leader, and towards her backpack. 

For the most part she was now ignoring Gage, but she picked up on him asking the crowd of raiders to leave. She didn’t know what Gage’s offer was, but Darby was thankful it didn’t involve fighting anyone else. 

Finding her bag, Darby bent over to dig through its contents but froze as the overwhelming pain threatened to consume her into darkness once more. Looking down at her stomach, Darby’s eyes widened to see her dirty flannel covered in blood.

“Hey Gage!”

“Yeah?”

“Are… are they gone?”

Gage eyed the woman through the window, wondering why she’d want to know. “Uh… yeah, they’re gone.”

Darby gave a firm nod, before dropping to the ground and hissing in pain. “This whole trips been the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.”

Gage began to unlock the door, knowing she was badly beat up and probably needed medical assistance. “You well enough to talk briefly about that offer?”

“Don’t think I gotta choice” Darby grumbled, going to use her prosthetic arm to grab her bag, but gasping in pain as it shocked her. 

Calming her breathing Darby rested her back against the bumper-cart and stretched her left arm to grab the bag, only for someone to grab her wrist. Her eyes snapped to Gage’s rugged eyepatch and light brown eye. A scraggly short cut mohawk is how Darby would explain his hairstyle, but it fit his gruff appearance and dirt smudged face.

Crouching down in front of her, Gage gripped her wrist tighter as she tried to fight out of his hold. “Take it easy, you may have survived the grenade, but your still badly injured-”

Darby slammed her forehead into the raiders, causing him to stumble back onto his butt. “I don’t need your help when it comes to anything physical” Darby snarled, ignoring her pounding head and reaching into her bag for a stimpack. 

Gage gripped his forehead and narrowed his eyes at the stranger “well consider that a one time offer then.” He watched her bright quantum blue eyes roll with annoyance. Her pale cheeks were covered in sweat, dirt, and a layer of freckles. The chapped peach colored lips were squished together in concentration, as her bleached white, shoulder length, hair fell in front of her eyes. 

Looking down at her stomach, Darby noticed the large piece of shrapnel sticking out and placed the stimpack on her lap for a moment. “Feel free to regal me about this fantastic offer worth risking my life for… Perhaps it’ll distract me from my pain” Darby gripped the piece of metal and looked back up at Gage.

“I don’t like repeating myself, you up for listening?” Gage got to his feet and glared down at her, still irritated she’d attacked him

Gripping the metal piece tightly, Darby ripped it out and bit her lip to stop the scream from leaving her mouth. Calming her breathing, she gave a firm nod “just start talking already, I’ll tell you if I’ve missed somethin’.”

Gage crossed his arms and watched her stick the stimpack in the wound. “Look, taking out Colter wasn’t just a last minute decision… It was something a few of us here have been working on for a while. Now that he’s actually gone we’ve got ourselves a vacancy in the Overboss department. Guess what? You just got the jo-”

“Don’t finish that bullshit sentence” Darby interrupted with a snarl, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Refusing to look at the raider, Darby pulled the needle back out and tossed it to the side “my answer is obviously no.”

Allowing his hands to drop to his side, Gage shook his head “come on, just consider it, Darby.”

Her eyes widened as she looked up at Gage “how the fuck- you know what, it dosen’t matter!” Looking back at her bag, she beginning to zip-up her backpack “I said no and that's my final answer.”

“Look all I’m askin’ is that you trust me and give it a shot. Maybe you’ll find these idiots ain’t so bad.”

“Trust you?” Darby got to her feet and took her broken laser musket off her back to swing her backpack on first. “Your a raider!” Looking at Gage, she scoffed at the curious glint ‘hidden’ in his eye as he stared at her limp arm. He didn’t know it wasn’t real and she planned on keeping it that way. “Look, the only trust you believe in, is your guns ability to put a bullet in some innocent persons head!”

“Your about to have one in your face if you don’t shut up and take my offer.”

Darby puffed out her cheeks as she tried to think of a comeback but settled with a question “why should I even lead these idiots? Why can’t you do it?”

Gage’s rolled his eye “we’ll get into that later- Just trust me… I already saved your life once, I can do it again, but you have to help me.”

“Fine-” Darby let a sigh escape her lips “-I’ll lead your shitheaded raiders, but don’t think big changes aren’t coming.”

Gage chuckled and shook his head “I think you should just focus on surviving… Now, I’m sure you got a lot of questions, but this ain’t the place. Meet me at the Overboss’s… Your new quarters, the restaurant on top of good ol’ Fizztop Mountain. We can talk there.”

Darby watched the raider walk towards the exit of the arena, giving her a moment to spot her hat. 

Picking up the leather malita hat, Darby brushed the dust off it, but noticed the bullet hole in the center. A sigh escaped her lips as she dropped it back onto the ground, and shuffled after Gage.


	4. Chapter 4

Stepping outside the arena building, Darby took in a deep breath of fresh air as the warm sun began to beat down on her.

Small moments of peace, never lasted long for Darby Grease, as a distressed voice caught her ears. 

“Please, just let me go! I’ll get back to work without any complaint, I swear!” The voice was coming from a rag dressed female whose skin was covered in dirt and bruises. 

A raider in a colorful animal mask chuckled darkly as he tightened his hold on the woman’s upper arm “I’m thinking about having fun with you instead.”

“Hey!” 

The raider turned to look at Gage who held his hands up in a fake surrender as he walked around them, leaving the man to look at the unfamiliar female settler.

“This has nothing to do with you” the male raider snarled, but as he looked her up and down his tone changed. “Haven’t seen you before… you in the market for a good time? I wouldn’t mind giving you a quick lick” he chuckled darkly, causing the hair on Darby’s back to stand.

Taken aback by the mans boldness, Darby burst into a fit of snorted laughter. “While that’s a sweet offer-” she stepped closer and began to run her hand through his hair, trying not to gang at his smell “-I don’t think your in a good enough condition to be pleasing anyone.”

Before he could question her words, Darby tightly gripped his greasy strands, and slammed his face into the nearby pole. Brushing her gross hand on her jeans, Darby watched as he slumped over unconscious, but thankfully still breathing.

Turning towards the woman, Darby sheepishly smiled “hey, you alright?” Noticing the blinking collar, Darby began to inquire her about it, when the woman dashed off in the other direction. 

Darby reached out to stop her, but sighed and let her hand grip her prosthetic elbow. 

Continuing her walk towards the tall mountain, Darby glanced around at the other raiders who starred back. Keeping her head high, she tried not to show her fear that began to scream through her head… She could only be the tough chick for so long and had no one to rely on, this was a death sentence.

As the lift loudly clanked up to the top of Fizztop Mountain, Darby’s nose began to wrinkle with disgust. 

Gage sat at the bar, awaiting her arrival with a smug smirk. “Welcome to your new quarters, hope you like the digs, Colter had some peculiar tastes.”

Darby scoffed “that’s putting it politely.” Shuffling off the lift and into the trash filled room, Darby ignored the mess and dropped her broken musket, backpack, and newly acquired blaster, by the desk until the view outside caught her eyes.

“Man…” Darby began to mumble as she stared out at the park below “this whole shitshow will be worth just the view.”

A light chuckle escaped Gage, who’d heard her mumbling words, but it brought Darby back to the task at hand.

Turning to Gage, Darby began to fidget with her prosthetic arm “what are those collars around the settlers neck? Everyone who had them was poorly dressed and looked like they were going to starve to death.”

Reaching over the bar counter, Gage grabbed a nuka-cola “don’t worry about that right now, we’ve got more pressing matters to discuss.” Opening the drink, he went to take a swing, when it was snatched from his hand.

Holding the Nuka-Cola, Darby snorted a small laugh at his surprised expression. “I came here to free settlers from raiders, just figured it’d be easier to do as a leader” she took a swing from the drink and walked back over to her backpack. “Why don’t we trade information? You tell me what those collars are, and I’ll listen to your speal about my new leadership position. Oh also-” Darby glanced back at him “-I need to change so if you could be so kind as to give me some privacy.” 

She motioned for him to turn around by twirling her finger.

Gage rolled his eyes and turned his back to the insufferable woman. “Look… Those things around their necks are called shock collars, all the settlers here wear them, unless their just here to trade.”

Darby took off her shirt, and though she was only in a bra, she hardly cared as her focus was on taking off her prosthetic arm. “I’ve figured that much out-” Darby began to undo the straps and connections, thankful to have brought her spare “-I just can’t understand what they do and why they’re needed.”

“Don’t act so naive to the way of a raiders brain, I know your backstory” Gage scoffed, suddenly feeling tempted to glance over his shoulder and see her facial reaction. 

“Oh?” Darby already figured the man knew some details about her life story, but wasn’t expecting him to know it all. With the arm off, Darby pulled out her spare and began to put it back on “please enlighten me on all the information you’ve gathered about my life story.”

“Well I know your the second in command to the general of the minutemen, bunch of fucking sheep if you ask me-” 

“I didn’t” Darby snarled, disliking his interpretation on the faction.

Gage chuckled darkly “you sure think you cute with these quick comebacks? They’ll only get you shot out here.” Shaking his head, and trying to calm down his sudden anger, he continued. The way it sounds… Before you joined those sheep, you were some raider’s slave, then that general save you so you joined up.”

A snort escaped Darby as she bit her lip to focus before grumbling “sure sounds short and simple, huh?” With her prosthetic now working, Darby began to pull out her spare set of clothes “naive woman gets taken by raiders and saved by a man in shining armor… Now she’s back to square one… Go ahead and tell me about the position.”

“I’ll cut to the chase, your highness” Gage snarled, earning another snort from Darby. “Leading outright ain’t my style, and there’s already some blaming me for supporting Colter all this time-”

“And supporting the Minutemen's second is gonna fix that?”

Gage reached over the counter to grab a beer, before continuing “my talents are best used helping the woman in charge get all this shit under control. You get me?”

“Talents, you mean your talent for putting a target on someone else's back?” Darby put on the short sleeved black shirt, thankful it was cooler than her flannel, but feeling uncomfortable about her arm being shown. 

“Unlike some lowlife slave, I’ve run with gangs my whole life. I know how they think, what they’re after, and how to use that to our advantage. Trust me, I’m in this just as much as you are. This shit needs to work out!”

“So what do you want me to do?” Darby grabbed her coat and drink, before plopping down in the seat beside Gage. “How do we fix this and both get what we want?”

Hearing the seat beside him Gage turned to face her and immediately noticed the prosthetic arm, but also the unease in her eyes, so he chose not to address it. “Colter got lazy so the gangs started to get restless, killing each other over the simplest of things, happens when they’re all stacked on top of each other.”

Darby nodded “yeah that sounds like a normal family life.” She took a swing from her drink, thankful he didn’t say anything about her arm “but aren’t there are other mini parks here? Just go claim those spots and problems solved.”

“This ain’t like the minutemen, shit like this ain’t simple because raiders are dumb” Gage grumbled. The snorted laughter she produced again had a small smile trying to tug at his lips. “Look I know these gangs, been working with them or against them for years now. I’ll help walk you through everything, okay?”

Leaning against the counter, Darby narrowed her eyes as she tried to read him “does that include freeing the slaves?”

Gage sighed “sure, fine, whatever gets you to agree. First thing you gotta do is get these gangs behind you. Without them supporting you, you ain’t getting shit done. You don’t have to trust’ em. Hell, you don’t even have to like’em. But you need them to respect you enough to follow you.”

Darby gave him a small smile “don’t worry Gage, everyone likes me.”

Gage smacked his forehead and almost started smiling, he cursed himself at feeling so relaxed around her so quickly. “Yeah… go ahead and see how far that gets ya.” Getting up from his chair, he strolled towards the lift “look technically your already the Overboss, right? That’s like half the work done right there, so don’t screw this next part up.”

“Overboss?” Darby scoffed the title, finishing her drink and stranding as well “can’t you just call me darby?”

“Don’t like calling you that anymore than you hearing it, but it’s about respect and the raiders needs to hear you being called that.”

Looking down at the colonial duster, Darby groaned with internal conflict. So she was the ‘overboss’ of a group of raiders which was the opposite of what Minutemen were about, but so long as she kept to her goal of freeing settlers it would be worth the trouble, right? 

“Let’s get one thing straight-” throwing the coat on, Darby turned to face Gage “-I don’t like anything about this shit show. The only reason I’m helping you is because these settlers need someone to save them. And if it’s not going to be you, then it has to be me.”

“So long as you don’t fuck things over further, and keep the target on your back, we’ll get along just fine.” Gage pulled out a cigarette and began to light it.

Taking the stick from his fingers, Darby stood close enough to feel his breath as she stared into his light brown eye. “Getting along with you isn’t my plan, I just have to tolerate you long enough to help people.”

Gage stared down at her at her with a blank expression “I’ll be here when you get back, perhaps then you’ll be ready to make a friend.”

“Doubt it” Darby grumbled, flicking the cigarette onto the ground and stepping it out before strolling onto the lift.


	5. Frustrations

As the sun started to set, Darby began to tap her foot impatiently as the lift took her up to the Overboss quarters. Her eyes locked onto the back of a yellow caged amor piece before she realized Gage was leaning against the nearby wall waiting for her with a smirk. 

“How’d it go?”

Darby threw her hands up in defeat as she stepped off the lift “I totally messed up! I threatened Nisha… I called Mags a lying ass bitch and William a dickless puppet… and I broke one of Mason’s raider’s fingers when he touched my… no-no-zone.”

Gage stared at her trying to take in everything she said “your… no-no-zone?”

Darby’s cheeks burned a bright red as she tried to casually shrug “my vagina… I was just hoping you wouldn’t ask, look it doesn't matter, I shouldn’t have brought it-”

“Wait, you broke a raiders fingers for touching your vigina?” Gage watched her shift uncomfortably, it was obvious she was frustrated still. 

“It’s weird to talk to your second in command about such private matters, especially when you just met him.” Walking towards the kitchen, Darby began to search the cabinets for a teakettle. “Perhaps we can talk about something else? Like how badly I messed up?”

Gage chuckled “what happened to the hot headed Minutemen I’d met earlier today? Are you really that flustered over speaking about ‘private’ matters?”

Getting down onto her knees, Darby opened the bottom cabinet and began to search through the pile of dishes. “Gage, unless your offering to help relieve my sexual frustrations, I’d start speaking about different matters!”

“Sure.”

Darby slammed her head against the top of the cabinet and gripped the throbbing area as she poked her head over the counter. Meeting Gage’s gaze, Darby felt her cheeks burning as she quickly shook her head, believing she’d heard him wrong.

Gage chuckled as if this conversation was a casual one. “Sexual frustration for the Overboss is inevitable, so I’ll provide the service if necessary. Depending on who you fuck around here, they’ll use it to get an advantage.”

Her jaw dropped against the counter before she spotted the red teakettle on the counter and quickly snatched it. “I… I don’t know how to respond to that. Like nice offer, but no thanks?”

Awkward silence fell between them, but Darby’s curiosity became overwhelming “so were you and Colter a thing?” Darby began to fill the kettle with water but looked back at Gage with wide eyes “oh shit. Were you in love with him?”

Gage rolled his eyes “I was not in love with Colter, things just happen between leaders and their second in commands.”

Darby burst out into a fit of nervous laughter as she turned on the stove. “Maybe for you, but never in a million years would something happen between me and Preston.”

“Oh really?” Gage raised a brow and began to walk closer towards the kitchen. “Nothing?”

“Guy like him?” Darby wrinkled her nose at the thought. “Preston’s too nice-” crossing her arms she shrugged “-guess that’s not a bad thing, but he’s too… gentle?” Her ears felt like they ignited into flames as she quickly shook her head “not like gentle during the deed- I mean… Ugh.” Darby smacked her forehead. 

Gage chuckled “your a wreck with this subject.”

“Thanks for noticing” Darby grumbled, but quickly began to smile “so anyway can we focus on the fact that I messed up, please?”

Gage waved her worries away “you did what you were supposed too. The gang leaders are going to respect you, which enables you to get shit done.”

With her elbow on the counter, Darby rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she waited for the water to boil. “But I can’t keep up with this tough act. Obviously I’m getting frustrated with the grabby raiders, and I’ve already pounded one’s lights out for hurting a settler, but when I’m on my own I don’t make good decisions. It’s why Preston’s the general, not me.”

“Fuck boss, your putting all the stress on your shoulders.” Gage watched her quantum blue eyes lock onto his and casually shrugged “were in this together, we can make decisions together.”

Standing straight again, Darby softly smiled “suppose your right.”

“I’m always right… You focus on keeping an appearance around the others, but so long as you keep being the Overboss-” Gage shrugged “-you can act however you want around me.”

Darby stared into his light brown eye until the teakettle screamed in her ear. Turning the oven off, she took the pot away from the hot surface and began to make a cup of tea “so then let's discuss what’s next.”

“Time to take over the parks” Gage smirked and snatched a nearby Nuka-cola but wrinkled her nose. “And maybe find some different beverages.”

“Let me fix my gear, gather a few supplies from the market, and get at least a nights rest” Darby listed, bringing the teacup over to her desk. Placing it on the table, she dug through her bag and threw a purified water towards Gage. “Then, tomorrow morning, we can head out to the parks.”

Gage looked down at the bottle in his hands and smirked “sounds like a plan, boss.” Giving her a small nod as thanks, Gage began shuffling towards the door. 

“Gage” Darby called, watching him stop just before entering the next room. Shifting uncomfortably, Darby sighed “thanks for not questioning my ability when you noticed my prosthetic…”

Turning towards the white haired woman, Gage sighed. “Yeah well, sometimes what we think is a weakness can be a strength. Hell, I see better with one eye than I did with two.”

Darby snorted and gave a nod of understanding “eyepatch adds to your intimidating presence… Night, Gage.”

“Night, boss.”

Once the door closed behind Gage, Darby began to get to work. Tomorrow they’d conquer a park and whatever gang received the territory would have to free half of their slaves, or at least that was her plan…


	6. Chapter 6

As the sun started to set, Darby began to tap her foot impatiently as the lift took her up to the Overboss quarters. Her eyes locked onto the front of a yellow caged amor piece before she realized Gage was leaning against the nearby wall waiting for her. 

Taking a deep breath, Darby mentally reminded herself that she was to tell Gage ‘it went fine’, and that was it. Anything more and they both might become a panicked mess, or maybe he’d shoot her, either way would be bad so-

“How’d it go?”

Darby threw her hands up in defeat as she stepped off the lift “I totally messed up! I threatened Nisha, I called Mags a lying ass bitch and William a dickless puppet, and I broke one of Mason’s raider’s fingers when he touched my… no-no-zone…” she mumbled the ending part, finding herself suddenly uncomfortable. 

Gage stared at her trying to take in everything she said, but he was stuck at her last word… “Your… no-no-zone?”

Darby’s cheeks burned a bright red as she tried to casually shrug “you know, my vagina… Look, I was just hoping you wouldn’t ask, I shouldn’t have brought it up anyway-”

“Wait, you broke a raiders fingers for touching your vigina?” Gage understood why she’d be uncomfortable, yet, he couldn’t help but notice the way her legs rubbed together. 

“It’s weird to talk to your second in command about such private matters, especially when you just met him.” Walking towards the kitchen, Darby began to search the cabinets for a teakettle. “Perhaps we can talk about something else? Like how badly I messed up?”

Gage chuckled “what happened to the hot headed Minutemen I’d met earlier today? Are you really that flustered over speaking about ‘private’ matters?” He shrugged “for raiders we fuck whomever, whenever, whereever, we’d like.”

Darby rolled her eyes “yeah, fuckin noticed the Pack gets frisky in public, one girl literally moaned in my ear!” Getting down onto her knees, Darby opened the bottom cabinet and began to search through the pile of dishes. “But unless your offering to help relieve my frustrations, I’d start speaking about different matters!”

“Sure.”

Darby slammed her head against the top of the cabinet and gripped the throbbing area as she poked her head over the counter. Meeting Gage’s gaze, Darby felt her cheeks burning as she quickly shook her head, believing she’d misheard him.

Gage chuckled, as through the conversation was a casual one, “sexual frustration for the Overboss is inevitable, so I’ll provide the service if necessary. Depending on who you fuck around here, they’ll use it to get an advantage, so I suppose I’d be the best option.”

Her jaw dropped against the counter before she spotted the red teakettle on the counter. “I… I don’t know how to respond to that. Like nice offer, but no thanks?” Snatching the pot, Darby began to spin in a circle to look for the sink, before finally finding it.

Awkward silence fell between them, but Darby’s curiosity became overwhelming.

“So were you and Colter a thing?” Darby began to fill the kettle with water but looked back at Gage with wide eyes “oh shit. Were you in love with him?”

Gage rolled his eyes “I was not in love with Colter, things just happen between leaders and their second in commands.”

Darby burst out into a fit of nervous laughter as she turned off the water and turned on the stove. “Maybe for you, but never in a million years would something happen between me and Preston.”

“Oh really?” Gage raised a brow and began to walk closer towards the kitchen. “Nothing?”

“Guy like him?” Darby wrinkled her nose at the thought. “Preston’s too nice-” crossing her arms she shrugged “-guess that’s not a bad thing, but he’s too… gentle?” Her ears felt like they ignited into flames as she quickly shook her head “not like gentle during the deed- I mean… Ugh.” Darby smacked her forehead. 

Gage chuckled “your a wreck with this subject.”

“Thanks for noticing” Darby grumbled, but quickly began to smile “so anyway can we focus on the fact that I messed up, please?”

Gage waved her worries away “you did what you were supposed too. The gang leaders are going to respect you, which enables you to get shit done.”

With her elbow on the counter, Darby rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she waited for the water to boil. “But I can’t keep up with this tough act. Obviously I’m getting frustrated with the grabby raiders, and I’ve already pounded one’s lights out for hurting a settler, but when I’m on my own I don’t make good decisions. It’s why Preston’s the general, not me.”

“Fuck boss, your putting all the stress on your shoulders.” Gage watched her quantum blue eyes lock onto his and casually shrugged “were in this together, we can make decisions together.”

Standing straight again, Darby softly smiled “suppose your right.”

“I’m always right… You focus on keeping an appearance around the others, but so long as you keep being the Overboss-” Gage shrugged “-you can act however you want around me.”

Darby stared into his light brown eye until the teakettle screamed in her ear. Turning the oven off, she took the pot away from the hot surface and began to make a cup of tea “so then let's discuss what’s next.”

“Time to take over the parks” Gage smirked and snatched a nearby Nuka-cola but wrinkled her nose. “And maybe find some different beverages.”

“Let me fix my gear, gather a few supplies from the market, and get at least a nights rest” Darby listed, bringing the teacup over to her desk. Placing it on the table, she dug through her bag and threw a purified water towards Gage. “Then, tomorrow morning, we can head out to the parks.”

Gage looked down at the bottle in his hands and smirked “sounds like a plan, boss.” Giving her a small nod as thanks, Gage began shuffling towards the door. 

“Gage” Darby called, watching him stop just before entering the next room. Shifting uncomfortably, Darby sighed “thanks for not questioning my ability when you noticed my prosthetic…”

Turning towards the quantum blue eyed woman, Gage sighed. “Yeah well, sometimes what we think is a weakness can be a strength. But fuck, I saw better with two eyes than I do with one.”

Darby snorted and gave a nod of understanding “at least the eyepatch adds to your intimidating presence… Anyway, thanks, Gage. Goodnight.”

“Night, boss.”

Once the door closed behind Gage, Darby began to get to work. Tomorrow they’d conquer a park and whatever gang received the territory would have to free half of their slaves, or at least that was her plan…


End file.
